An Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City has sentenced a certain Chinedu Francis Nwabuisi to two years in prison for converting N21.9million mistakenly credited to his bank account to personal use.
Justice Irele Ifijeh convicted and sentenced Nwabuisi following his arraignment by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
According to the EFCC, Nwabuisi converted N21,939,237.27 which was erroneously credited to his account by First Bank Plc following a system glitch.
The commission said the convict was prosecuted for converting the funds to his personal use instead of reporting the erroneous payment or returning the money to the bank.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, M.S. Dahiru, called two witnesses, including a senior official of First Bank and an operative of the EFCC.
The prosecution also tendered documentary evidence which was admitted by the court.
In his defence, Nwabuisi told the court that he believed the money represented benefits arising from his operation of a Point of Sale business with the bank.
The court, however, found him guilty and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
Justice Ifijeh also ordered Nwabuisi to restitute First Bank Plc, the complainant, the sum of N21,939,732.27.
The case followed the erroneous transfer of the funds into Nwabuisi’s account as a result of the reported system glitch at the bank.
The EFCC statement did not provide further details on when the erroneous credit occurred, how much of the money Nwabuisi spent before his arrest or whether any part of the funds had been recovered before the restitution order.
The commission’s statement also reported the restitution figure as N21,939,732.27, which is slightly higher than the N21,939,237.27 it identified as the amount erroneously credited to Nwabuisi’s account.
- Media Report